River Trace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
250 Lovers Lane, Washington, NC 27889 · Beaufort County · 140 certified beds · avg 122 residents/day · certified since Oct 1, 1981
Part of chain: PRINCIPLE LONG TERM CARE (40 facilities, chain avg rating 3.0★)
What health inspectors found (on-site government inspections — the most independent evidence available)
Health inspection rating: ★☆☆☆☆1/5 · CMS overall rating: 1/5
The health inspection star above is graded on a curve within each state — a set share of each state's facilities gets each star level — so a facility can have few citations and still rate 2–3 stars if others in its state did even better. The overall rating combines that inspection score with staffing and self-reported quality measures.
Most serious findings (actual harm or immediate jeopardy)
▲ Immediate jeopardy, one-off · Aug 22, 2025 · F-0726
The facility did not make sure its nurses and nurse aides had the skills and training needed to properly care for every resident.
Why it matters: Undertrained caregivers are more likely to miss warning signs and make care mistakes.
Severity (J): Inspectors found a situation that put a resident's life or safety in immediate danger, affecting one or a few residents. The facility must fix it immediately — these citations often come with large fines.
Corrected: Sep 26, 2025 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
▲ Immediate jeopardy, one-off · Aug 22, 2025 · F-0880
The facility did not have or follow an effective program to prevent and control infections — such as proper hand washing, cleaning, and isolation practices. This is the most commonly cited deficiency nationwide.
Why it matters: Weak infection control lets illnesses like flu, COVID-19, and drug-resistant infections spread quickly among vulnerable residents.
Severity (J): Inspectors found a situation that put a resident's life or safety in immediate danger, affecting one or a few residents. The facility must fix it immediately — these citations often come with large fines.
Corrected: Sep 26, 2025 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
▲ Immediate jeopardy, one-off · Jul 18, 2025 · F-0689 · triggered by a complaint
The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls.
Why it matters: This is one of the most common citations and directly relates to falls and injuries, which can be devastating for older adults.
Severity (J): Inspectors found a situation that put a resident's life or safety in immediate danger, affecting one or a few residents. The facility must fix it immediately — these citations often come with large fines.
▲ Immediate jeopardy, one-off · Jun 21, 2024 · F-0684 · triggered by a complaint
The facility did not provide treatment and care that follows the doctor's orders and matches the resident's own preferences and goals.
Why it matters: Care that strays from doctor's orders or ignores the resident's wishes can lead to declining health and avoidable harm.
Severity (J): Inspectors found a situation that put a resident's life or safety in immediate danger, affecting one or a few residents. The facility must fix it immediately — these citations often come with large fines.
Corrected: May 24, 2024 (Past Non-Compliance)
All citations in the current public record (31)
CMS publishes roughly the last three inspection cycles plus recent complaint investigations. Older surveys drop out of the record as new ones are completed.
| Date | Severity | What the facility was cited for |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2025 | ▲ J · Immediate jeopardy, one-off | The facility did not make sure its nurses and nurse aides had the skills and training needed to properly care for every resident. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | ▲ J · Immediate jeopardy, one-off | The facility did not have or follow an effective program to prevent and control infections — such as proper hand washing, cleaning, and isolation practices. This is the most commonly cited deficiency nationwide. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not protect residents from misuse of their belongings or money — this is called misappropriation, and it includes theft or improper use of a resident's property or funds. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not provide pharmacy services that meet each resident's needs, or did not employ or contract with a licensed pharmacist. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not get its food from approved, safe sources, or did not store, prepare, and serve food according to professional food safety standards. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not treat residents with dignity and respect, or did not honor their rights to make their own decisions and communicate freely. This is one of the most fundamental resident rights. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not allow residents to take their own medications when a clinical review showed they could do so safely. Residents have this right if their care team determines it's appropriate. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not honor residents' rights to request, refuse, or stop treatment, to decline participation in medical research, or to make an advance directive — a written statement of their wishes for future medical care. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not develop or follow a complete care plan for each resident — the written roadmap covering all of a resident's needs, with measurable goals and timelines. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not develop a resident's complete plan of care within 7 days of the full assessment, or the plan wasn't prepared, reviewed, and updated by a team of health professionals as required. |
| Aug 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide or obtain laboratory tests when a doctor ordered them, or did not promptly report the results back to the doctor who ordered them. · from a complaint |
| Jul 18, 2025 | ▲ J · Immediate jeopardy, one-off | The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls. · from a complaint |
| Jul 26, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not develop a resident's complete plan of care within 7 days of the full assessment, or the plan wasn't prepared, reviewed, and updated by a team of health professionals as required. |
| Jul 26, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not get its food from approved, safe sources, or did not store, prepare, and serve food according to professional food safety standards. |
| Jul 26, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide appropriate care related to bladder and bowel needs — including care for residents who use catheters and steps to prevent urinary tract infections. |
| Jul 26, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not label drugs according to professional standards or did not store them in locked compartments, with controlled drugs (medications with a high risk of misuse) kept under a separate lock. |
| Jun 21, 2024 | ▲ J · Immediate jeopardy, one-off | The facility did not provide treatment and care that follows the doctor's orders and matches the resident's own preferences and goals. · from a complaint |
| Aug 4, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not properly plan a resident's discharge to meet the resident's goals and needs after leaving. · from a complaint |
| Apr 27, 2023 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not provide the help residents need with basic daily activities — like bathing, dressing, eating, and using the bathroom — for residents who cannot do these things on their own. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not allow residents to take their own medications when a clinical review showed they could do so safely. Residents have this right if their care team determines it's appropriate. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not honor residents' right to make their own choices about their daily lives, such as when to wake up, what to eat, or how to spend their time. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not give residents proper notice about what Medicare or Medicaid covers, or about charges the resident might owe for services that aren't covered. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not develop and follow policies and procedures to prevent abuse, neglect, and theft. These written safeguards are the foundation of resident protection. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not properly complete the required screening (called PASARR) that identifies whether a person entering a nursing home has a mental illness or intellectual disability and needs specialized services. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not create and follow a basic care plan covering a new resident's most immediate needs within 48 hours of admission. The first days are when a new resident is most vulnerable. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not develop or follow a complete care plan for each resident — the written roadmap covering all of a resident's needs, with measurable goals and timelines. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide the care needed to maintain or improve residents' movement and flexibility — such as range-of-motion exercises — leading to avoidable decline. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide safe, appropriate care for residents who need dialysis — the treatment that filters the blood when kidneys fail. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not run an ongoing quality assurance committee that reviews care problems and creates plans to fix them. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not develop and follow policies and procedures for offering residents flu and pneumonia vaccinations. |
| Apr 27, 2023 | C · Minimal risk, facility-wide | The facility did not make sure its staff were vaccinated for COVID-19 in accordance with the federal requirements in effect at the time. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections increased between the last two inspection cycles (4 → 11).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 14 | 0 | E |
| 2024 | 5 | 1 | J ▲ |
| 2025 | 12 | 3 | J ▲ |
Counts reflect the current CMS public record (~3 inspection cycles plus complaint investigations); years with no surveys show no row. Inspection frequency varies, so compare severity as well as counts.
Fines and enforcement (last 3 years)
2 fines totaling $32,991.
| Date | Type | Amount / length |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 2025 | Fine | $17,345 |
| Jun 21, 2024 | Fine | $15,646 |
Nurse staffing (from payroll records, adjusted for how much care residents need)
| Measure | This facility | North Carolina avg | U.S. avg | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hours per resident per day) | 0.00 | 4.01 | 3.95 | — |
| Registered Nurse hours | 0.00 | 0.64 | 0.69 | — |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 0.00 | 3.56 | 3.50 | — |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.00 | 0.41 | 0.48 | — |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 67.1 | 49.0 | 45.8 | bottom 12% in North Carolina; bottom 8% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 66.7 | 45.7 | 42.9 | bottom 21% in North Carolina; bottom 15% in the U.S. |
Hours are per resident per day, case-mix adjusted by CMS so facilities caring for sicker residents can be compared fairly (same basis as the CMS staffing star). "Top X%" means better than most facilities: more staffing hours, or lower turnover. Raw (unadjusted) reported hours: total 0.00, RN 0.00, weekend 0.00. Staffing rating: 1/5.
Self-reported quality measures
Note: these ratings are based on data the facility reports about itself to CMS. They are not independently verified by inspectors, and can look better than inspection findings. Give more weight to the inspection results above.
Quality measures rating: 2/5 · long-stay residents: 4/5 · short-stay residents: 1/5
Who owns this facility
For profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barker, Joetta | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/15/2025 |
| Barker, Joetta | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/02/2025 |
| Boice, Gale | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 03/05/2018 |
| Boice, Gale | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 03/05/2018 |
| Hill, Raymond | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2011 |
| Hill, Robert | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2011 |
| Hill, Stephen | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2011 |
| Johnson, Dianne | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2011 |
| Principle Long Term Care, INC. | Organization | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2011 |
| Skahill, Steven | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2017 |
Questions to ask on your visit
Generated from this facility's actual citation record — bring them to a tour and ask the administrator directly.
- "How do you verify that your nurses and aides have the skills to care for residents with needs like my family member's?"
- "Who leads your infection prevention program, and how do you make sure staff follow practices like hand hygiene every day?"
- "What is your falls rate, and what specific steps do you take to prevent falls and supervise residents at risk?"
- "How do you make sure each resident's care follows the doctor's orders, and what changed after this citation?"
- "What safeguards do you have to protect residents' money and belongings, and what happens when something goes missing?"
- "How does your pharmacist review residents' medications, and how quickly can you fill new or urgent prescriptions?"
- "What did your most recent kitchen inspection find, and can I see how food is stored and prepared?"
- "Can you give me examples of how your staff protect residents' dignity in everyday care, like bathing and dressing?"
- "What is your current ratio of nursing staff to residents on day, evening, and weekend shifts?"
- "Can I see the results and plan of correction from your most recent state inspection?"
Nearby facilities (within 20 miles)
| Facility | Distance | City | Overall | Inspection | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgewood Living & Rehabilitation Center | 0.9 mi | Washington, NC | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| The Carrolton of Williamston | 13.3 mi | Williamston, NC | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Cypress Glen Retirement Community | 17.9 mi | Greenville, NC | ★★★★★ | 5/5 |
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Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 345215.